by Ali | Oct 18, 2024 | Fiction
Three Act Story Structure (Including the Seven Key Plot Points Your Novel Needs) Does your novel draft feel a little lopsided? Is your pacing off, or does it seem like the story takes ages to get started? Maybe the tension slackens off in the middle, or you feel...
by Ali | Oct 10, 2024 | Motivation
Annual Writing Goal Progress in Q3, 2024 (Plus When to Quit a Writing Goal) We’ve got slightly under three months left in 2024 … and this is the time when I start to think about all the writing I haven’t yet got done! If, like me, you had a busier-than-expected...
by Ali | Oct 3, 2024 | Fiction
Outlining for Pantsers: Three Key Stages of Wrestling Your Rough Draft Under Control Some writers love to plan out every detail of their plot in advance … but is there such thing as outlining for pantsers? If you follow writing groups, blogs, or social media accounts...
by Ali | Sep 26, 2024 | Editing
The Right Way to Expand a Too-Short Piece of Writing Note: This post was last updated in September 2024. Is your piece of writing too short? One common issue that standard writing advice covers is how to cut down your first draft. And this advice comes up time and...
by Ali | Sep 12, 2024 | Motivation
How to Write When … You Have So Many Emails to Deal With This post is part of my ongoing “How to Write When…” series. As I draft this – after a very busy summer! – I have 1,278 unread emails in my inbox. Most of those aren’t emails from individuals...
